Disclaimer: "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" is the property of Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Productions. I'm merely borrowing the characters for entertainment purposes.
Author's note: This story takes place a few weeks after my first story, "Too Good To Last"; the marriage is still a secret. It is not necessary to read the first story to enjoy this one.
I'd like to thank A.C. for her advice and friendship. I deeply value both.
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Change In Plans
Lee Stetson was standing in line at the seafood counter in his favorite Georgetown gourmet grocery market. Lee had left Phillip and Jamie in the fruit juice aisle "debating" what kind of juice to get to go with the dinner they would be cooking together. Just when Lee was beginning to wonder why it was taking the boys so long to choose a juice he was surprised to find a woman's well manicured hand clamped on his shoulder from behind. Lee spun around to find Francine smiling at him.
"I'm so glad you're here, Amanda mentioned that you like to shop here when you are going to be cooking for yourself, but I didn't really expect to find you", Francine stated happily.
"Well you just forget that you saw me because I'm off the duty roster for the weekend. Amanda would have been off too if Dr. Smyth hadn't sent her to Baltimore at the last minute. Whatever the Agency needs they'll have to find someone else to deal with it", Lee stated firmly.
"Calm down. I'm not working either. Now neither one of us has to make dinner; we can go out. You pick the restaurant…it'll be like old times."
"I'm sorry but I can't go out tonight. I've already made plans for dinner", Lee responded.
"I should have known. The minute Amanda's back is turned you've gone back to your old ways. Even I was beginning to think that you'd changed-", Francine hissed as she moved closer to Lee so that she wouldn't be overheard.
"Francine, I don't have time to debate my character with you now."
"Since when have you ever cared what people think of you? Men, you're all the same, you string women along but you only care about yourselves."
"I can see that you're upset and I'd like to listen but this isn't a good time. Can I call you later, much later, and we'll talk", Lee asked solicitously.
"She's here; isn't she", Francine asked with an arched eyebrow. "You haven't changed at all. Amanda deserves to know the truth-"
"The truth about what", Phillip asked from behind where Lee and Francine were standing. A startled Lee turned around to see Phillip and Jamie staring at him.
Lee was at a momentary loss for words. Amanda had given him so much advice for dealing with his first weekend alone with Phillip and Jamie but none of that advice was going to help him now. He was trapped between Francine's accusations and his stepsons' reaction to what they had overheard. Lee took a deep breath and decided to regain control of the situation before things got any worse.
"Guys, this is Francine Desmond. Ms. Desmond works with your mom and me at IFF. Francine, I'd like you to meet Phillip and Jamie King, Amanda's sons", Lee said as he put an arm around the shoulder of each of the boys.
"Hi boys. It's good to meet you. Your mom talks about you all the time", Francine said as she realized she'd jumped to the wrong conclusion about Lee's plans for the evening.
The two usually talkative boys hadn't said anything since Phillip had questioned what Amanda deserved to know the truth about. Lee didn't know how much the boys had overheard and he didn't want them to find out quite how colorful his past had been. Phillip, being more inclined than his brother to speak his mind, looked Lee in the eye and rephrased his question.
"Lee, what does Ms. Desmond think my mom deserves to know the truth about?"
"Ah, Phillip. This was just a misunderstanding; nothing to worry about. Ms. Desmond jumped to a mistaken conclusion and didn't give me a chance to explain the situation to her. You boys got here just when I was going to clear things up with her. No big deal", Lee concluded in hopes of avoiding answering Phillip's actual question.
"Lee, we aren't little kids anymore", Jamie jumped in,"Ms. Desmond sounded pretty angry at you. Something must have upset her", Jamie argued.
"Boys, Lee is right but so are you", Francine interjected.
"Francine, you aren't helping here", Lee said as he raked his hand through his hair in frustration.
"Quiet. I want all three of you to listen. You boys are right; I was very angry, but Lee was right too. I accused him of something he wasn't guilty of because I wasn't thinking clearly and I didn't let Lee explain the situation to me", Francine stated calmly.
"Ms. Desmond, we'd still like to know what you thought our mom should know. She's always taken care of us and now that we're older we can look out for her too", Phillip responded while Jamie stepped closer to his brother in a show of support.
"Guys, I respect that you're looking out for your mom's interests but this has all been based on a misunderstanding. I'd never do anything to hurt your mom; can't we let this go. We have plans for the evening and I'm sure Ms. Desmond wants to get on with her evening too."
"Lee, we trust you but we'd still like to hear what Ms. Desmond thought you'd done", Jamie said while adjusting his glasses.
"Enough already. Guys, please call me Francine, being called Ms. Desmond makes me feel old. Lee, you have a past and you have to live with it, tell them what I thought or I will", Francine stated in a tone that left Lee with no doubt that she would answer his stepsons' questions if he didn't.
"Okay, I'll give you guys the short answer now but I'd like to put off a long discussion until we get home. Three people have already gone ahead of us at the seafood counter and I'm starting to get hungry. The bottom line is that Francine asked me to have dinner with her and when I told her that I already had dinner plans she assumed it was with another woman since she knew that your mom is out of town", Lee explained.
"So now that you know that Lee is having dinner with us you're not angry at him anymore", Jamie asked Francine.
"No, I'm not angry at Lee; it wasn't really Lee that made me angry in the first place. I had a dinner date tonight but the man I was going to go out with called me an hour ago and cancelled the date."
"Ms. Desmond, I mean Francine; I know it won't be the same as a date but you could have dinner with us. Lee is going to teach us how to cook paella. He's a really good cook. Would you like to come with us", Jamie asked enthusiastically.
"That's a good idea", Phillip chimed in," you'd be having dinner with three guys instead of just one."
"I'd love to join you if it's okay with Lee", Francine answered to Lee's surprise.
"Sure, you're welcome to join us. Let's finish our shopping and then you can follow us back to Amanda's house", Lee responded amiably.
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Author's note: Would anyone be interested in reading about Francine's dinner with
Lee and the boys?